Feed mechanism for assembly machines



1943. N. v. KUEH LMAN FEED MECHANISM FOR ASSEMBLY MACHINES Original Filed July 10, 1941 4; Sheets-Sheet 1 vi .II n- J M 4 INVENTOR. Norman 1 flue/l/man Dec. 28, 1943.

N. v. KUEHLMAN FEED MECHANISM FOR ASSEMBLY MACHINES Original Filed July 10, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. A/orman lZ/fge/z/man BY 147 7' U/P/V Y5 1943. N. v. KUEHLMAN FEED MECHANISM FOR ASSEMBLY MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed July 10, 1941 INVENTOR.

Norman M/fue/v/man ATTO/P/Y VJ Dec. 28, 1943. v, LM N 2,337,667

FEED MECHANISM FOR ASSEMBLY MACHINES Original Filed July 10,' 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Norman lZ/fuefi/man BY 5K Emmi tmmwwk Patented Dec. 28, 1943 Norman V. Kuehlman, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to The National Lock Washer Company,

Newark, N. 1., a corporation of New Jersey Original application July 10, 1941, Serial No. 401,804. Divided and this application August 25, 1942, Serial No. 456,038 r 6 Clalms. (Cl. 141-163) This is a division of my application Ser. No. 401,804, filed July 10, 1941. The-invention described and claimed herein is for a feed mechanism for automatically feeding an equal number of washersand bolt blanks from storage spaces of an assembly machine to an assembly mechanism which places the washers on the blanks.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of part of a washer and blank assembly machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of the paths of I the washers and blanks leading from the storage spaces to the assembly mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation ofpart of the washer and blank tracks.

Fig. 4 is :a diagram of the electric circuits of the assembly machine and its controls for the automatic feeding of the proper number of washers and blanks to the assembly mechanism.

.Fig. 1 shows suitable storage spaces for washers and blanks. The hopper I is provided to receive a quantity of lock washers W which, in

the illustrative drawings, are of the split-ring type, and a similar hopper 2 is provided to receive a quantity of .bolt blanks B. These hoppers are shown in the form of inverted pyramids,

but may be conical if so desired. ,From these hoppers, the washers and blanks are conveyed along similar paths, which will be described in detail, to an assembly mechanism (not shown), where they are put together to form the assembled blank and washer and from which they are discharged to a suitable storage space.

Lock washer hopper path 1 The bottom of the washer hopper l is equipped with two or more baffle plates designed to relieve the mechanism immediatelyunder. the opening at the bottom of the hopper from the fullweight of the superimposed lock washers. These baflles are not shown because their use in any form of storage device is common.

Underneath the opening in the lowermost part of hopper I is a trough 5 which is positioned close enough to the opening in the bottom of the hopper to prevent a rapid and uncontrolled pouring out of the lock Washers through that opening. The trough 5-is mounted upon a vibratory mechanism 6 which serves to vibrate said trough and in, this way control the flow of the washers from the hopper. The vibrating mechanism shown is sold under the trade name Syntron and made under U. S. Letters Patent Nos. 1,637,401 and 1,637,717.

Washer flow control is obtained by adjusting the activity of the vibrator 6. This feature is utilized to control the flow of the lock washers from the hopper I into the track feeder 5.

, The action of the vibrating track feeder 5 is suchthat the washers will move along it between suitable guides I and 8 to the open end thereof,

from which they will fall into washer vibrator 9 (Figs. 1 and 2), which is made up of a fiat bottom portion to and two sloping side portions H and I2. An end wall l3 closes theleft or upper end of the vibrator (as viewed in the figures).

The washer vibrator 9 slopes downwardly from the left to the right, as seen in these figures, and

, iszequipped with asuit'able baffle l4 and a guide I 5 designed to direct and to some extent control the flow of the washers along this vibrator.

Like feeder 5, this trough-like washer vibrator 9 is supported upon a vibrating mechanism l6 s which is similar to the mechanism 6. It is soadjusted andldesigned as to vibrate the member 9, to maintain a steady flow of washers along the length thereof. A light steel drag n is pivoted at l8 and designed to rest upon some of the washers in the vibrator 9 so as to steadytheir movement therea'long. This washer vibrator is tilted, not only downwardly, as shown in Fig. 1-, but also downwardly to the left, as viewed in'the direction of travel of the washers, so that the washers willtend to move toward the wall I2 as well as longitudinally of the washer vibrator.

At the lower end of the vibrator '9 is a throwout finger 19 designed to guide rolling or tilted washers out through a discharge opening 20.

, the washers will move along it by gravity.

Bolt blank path of travel 1 Near the bottom of bolt blank hopper 2 are suitable bailies (not shown) to prevent the full weight of the blanks from being imposed upon the apparatus underneath the opening in the end which is positioned made orsurfaces 65 range themselves so as not be described herein except to that portion of the tlcal plane,

'arranged and proportionedblanks may support Q passing across the gap for a short distance may reservoir.

' washers so will now be described.

- spring finger I .mercury switch versathere is no washer short interval.

Feeder 50, 'as-seen in Fig. 1, is open at the right above a blank-aligning trough 02. Theupper end of trough 82 has wide V-shaped sides 59 and 04 which taper down and separateat the bottom thereof to form a track up of two parallel vertically disposed rails and 55 (Figs. 2 and v3). Members 05 and 09 are spaced apart a distance slightlygreater than, the diameter of the shank of the bolt blank B. When the blank drops from vibrator 50 into the trough 02, the V-shaped cross-section thereof serves to line up the blanks, and, as they pass downwardly and move from the trough onto that part of the blank path consisting of spaced parallel rails, the

to be supported on their heads between the layers 05 and 56'and then travel downwardly by gravity along these layers. The open space between the layers allows dirt and other foreign .matter, such as nails, wire, and chips, tofallout of the track.

As the blanks move down along the track to a position near, the breakill in the rail 55 (Fig. 2), they approach a blank selector 10, which need say that it serves to discard. improperly arranged blanks and permits the passage of other blanks to tracks 55 and 56 below the se- 10. Track 55 is not arranged in"a"verbut is slightly twisted so that properly lector themselves on the upper edge of this track while II. After the blank has passedthe gap 'II, it goes under a top rail 13 '(Fig. 3). It continues to travel along the path indicated in Fig. l on the tracks 65 and 65 down to the assembling mechanism which is not shown. That portion of the tracks 65 and 66 which extends upwardly from the assembly mechanism be considered the blank Controls It is desirable to control the flow of blanks and that the same. number of each will be delivered to the assembly mechanism in a given time and, in case of accident, it is desirable to stop the machine automatically. The illustrative machine is designed to perform these functions 1 automatically. Various control devices may be used for this purpose and the preferred form down through the washer which extends just above the asthey pass under a pivoted light 44. Finger I is connected to a I45 so that, upon a very slight movement of the finger I,-switch I45 is tilted from the .closed to the open position, or vice When there is a washer-under the end of finger I, it is lifted sufllciently to maintain the mercury switch I45 in closed position, but when 7 under this finger, it falls enough to tip the mercury switch I45 and open As the washers move reservoir 98, sembly device,

the circuit therethrough. Switch I45 is con-- nected in series with the motor (not shown) which drives the assembly mechanism, a similar blank feeder switch I52 and blank feeder vibrator 5|, so that when there is no washer under the spring finger I the circuit through the assembly mechanism motor, switch I52, and blank feeder vibrator BI is open. In ordinary running, absence of washers is usually momentary and consequently the motor only slows down for a Another finger-operated mercury switch is arblanks will -ar-.

or proportioned ranged on the blank feed track at I50. This is operated by means of a spring finger I5I which rests lightly upon the blank heads passing thereunder. When there is a blank head under this spring finger I5I and therefore it is raised, the mercury switch I50 is in the ,off position; that is, the switch is open. This switch controls increased activity of the blank feeder vibrating mechanism 5|. Normally, this vibrator is manually adjusted from a control panel to permit a rate of flow of rate at which the assembly device demands them. Consequently, the number of blanks in the reservoir will drop and at times there will be no blank under the finger I5I so that it falls, closing mercury switch I50. This completes the circuit which causes an increased supply of current to flow to the blank feeder vibrator 5i and therefore an increased supply of blanks will drop into the blank aligning chute. This extra supply of blanks again raises the finger I5I. and opens the circuit through switch I50, thus cutting oil! the increased supply of current to thevibrator the normal manual control adjustment.

It has been found nearly impossible to adjust the flow of blanks and washers so that exactly the same number is fed to the assembly mechanism. Therefore the manual adjustment of the machine is such that fewer blanks than washers are fed to the assembly wheel or other assembly mechanism, but the difference is taken care of by this automatic feed, which produce an additional number of blanks suflicient to maintain the assembly mechanism supplied with a supply of blanks equal to the supply of washers.

Lower down on the blank reservoir is positioned mercury switch I52 controlled by a spring finger I53 which also rests on the heads of the blanks passing along the blank reservoir. This switch is very much like switch I45, because it is maintained ina closed position as long as the finger I53 is raised by the blank heads, but when the supply of blanks drops to the point where the spring finger I53 falls, then switch I52 is open. It is in circuit with the assembly mechanism motor and therefore will stop the assembly mechanism when open.

Electric circuit I to make or break the circuit through motor 50.

A double throw hand switch I96 controls the current passing through the main lines I and I9I to the other part of the electrical system of the assembly machine. The main line connections from power lines I90 and I9I are-shown at I90 and I9I. From these lines the various pieces of electric equipment receive their current. The blank feeder 50 is designed to be vibrated by the vibrator 6! which is connected through a rectifier I91, an adjustable resistance I98, and a hand switch I99 to power line I90. The other blanks slightly lower than the I] will drop, current "will blank feeder 60 more rapidly and thus feeding side of the vibrator is connected to power line I9I' through wire 200 and switch I45.

Washer vibrator 5 is actuated by vibrator 6 connected on one side to power line I98 through rectifier EIII, adjustable resistance 202, and hand switch 203, and on the other side to power line I9I' through Wire 204.

The washer feeder 9 is agitated by a vibrator I6 which is connected to power line I90 through rectifier 205, an adjustable resistance 206 and hand switch 201, and on the other side to power line I9I through wire 208.

Mercury switch I50. is connected in series with a resistance 209 (approximately the resistance of I98) and both the switch I 55 and resistance 209 are connected in parallel with resistance I98 through lines 2H! and 2I I. As pointed out heretofore, switch I50 is designed to remain open when there is a blank under its spring finger I5I, but when the supply of blanks falls-so low that there are no blanks under this switch, the finger the switch will close and additional pass to vibrator BI, agitating the more blanks.

Mercury switch I52 is connected in series through wire 2 I 2 with motor 92 which is designed to operate the assembly mechanism and this in turn is connected to rheostat 2I1 by line 2I6. The other side of rheostat 2I'I is connected to power line IBDthrough hand switch 2I3 by means of wires 2I8 and 2| 4. The other side of switch I52 is connected by wire 2I5 to mercury switch I45 and vibrator 6|. One side of switch I45 is connected to power line I 9| by wire 2I6'.

' Normally, with a suflicientsupply of washers under switch I45, this switch remains closed and likewise switch I52 remains closed when there are blanks thereunder. When both of these are closed, motor 92 is connected into the circuit and operates. If, on the other hand, a supply of washers falls so low that there are none under the switch I45, then the assembly mechanism motor 92 and blank feeder vibrator 6| will be disconnected from the source of power. Opening of switch I 52 will disconnect motor 92 only.

I claim:

1. In a machine ofthe character described, a washer storage means, a blank storage means, the combination of a washer track leading from said washer storage means, a blank track leading from said blank storage means, means for regulating the supply of blanks at a rate normally less than the normal rate of supply of Washers from the washer supply means, and means operatively connected to said blank track and adapted to increase temporarily the rate of supply of blanks from the blank storage means to the blank track when blanks are absent on said blank track.

2. In a machine of the character described, washer storage'means, blank storage means, a washer track leading from said washer storage means, a blank track leading from said blank storage means adapted to be supplied with blanks from said blank storage mechanism, means for regulating the supply of blanks at a rate normally less than the normal rate of supply of washers from the washer storage means, and means for increasing the rate of supply of the .washer storage means, a blank blanks temporarily and periodically to compensate for the normal rate and washers so as to make an equal number of blanks and washers available.

3. In a machine of the character described, a washer storage means, a blank storage means, a washer track leading from said washer storage means, a blank track leading from said blank storage means, electrically actuated means for providing a supply of blanks at a rate less than the normal rate of supply of washers from the washer hopper, and an electric switch operatively connected at a point on the blank track remote from said blank hopper and adapted to be operated when there are no blanks thereunder to cause increased activity of said blank regulating supply means and to maintain said increased activity until the blanks in said blank track open said switch.

4. In a machine of the character described, a storage means, a washer track leading from said washer storage means, a blank track leading from said blank storage means, means for regulating the flow of blanks along said blank track, means for regulating the flow of washers along said washer 'tra'ck, and means for automatically speeding up the flow of blanks when the number fed during normal operation is less than the number 01' washers fed during the same period of time.

5. In a machine of the character described, a washer storage means, a blank storage means, a washer track leading from said washer storage means and including a vibratory trough adjacent to the outlet of said washer storage means, a blank track leading from said blank storage means and including a vibratory trough adjacent to said blank storage means, manual means for adjusting the extent of vibration of saidyibratory troughs so that the number of washers supplied to said washer track is greater than the number of blanks supplied to said blank track, means associated with said blank track for causing an increase of the vibratory motion of the trough located immediately underneath the outlet of said blank storage means to increase the tracks from said storage means, means for regulating said control means to normally feed more washers than blanks to said tracks, and means associated with said blank track for causing a speedup in the activity of said blank feeding means when the number of blanks in position thereon drops below a predetermined number and for reducing said activity again to its normal rate when the number of blanks increases to said predetermined number.

NORMAN V. KUEHIMAN.

of supply of blanks 

